Chapter 22 - My marriage
I was divorced from Emma’s father, Aaron.
He lived in Michigan.
We shared legal custody, with Emma primarily living with me because of distance.
When I called him from the hospital, he was on the road within forty minutes.
He arrived that night.
No accusations.
No:
I told you your family was crazy.
Even though he had.
Years earlier.
He sat beside Emma.
Then asked me privately:
“Do you need me to take her for a while?”
My first instinct:
No.
Then I stopped.
Maybe.
I was exhausted.
Working.
Legal meetings.
Emma needed calm.
We agreed she would spend two weeks with Aaron after medical follow-up if doctors cleared travel.
Not because I failed.
Because co-parenting could be useful.
That was an important correction in me.
I had spent years believing good motherhood meant being the person who absorbed everything.
It doesn’t.
Emma loved her father.
She returned calmer.
May you like
And annoyed because he made broccoli.
Normal.
